Welcome to Gaia! ::

The Mirari has taken root in the heart of the Krosan Forest. A barbarian's sister has been transformed into the Cabal's undead champion. An illusionist has shedded the shackles of reality and rules from the desert, his angelic defender enforcing his words.

And somewhere, a young boy has just awoken.

This is Awakening, the first set in the Kouria block. As you could probably tell, it takes place at around the same place and time as Onslaught. The major themes of this block are "land-type matters" and "major and rapid changes." The second one is a bit vague, so let me clarify: This block is centered around several major events in many places that affect everyone around. Thus, many effects in the block affect all players equally. For instance, Crusade would be a better fit for this block than Honor of the Pure.

The story is centered around a young mage, Nuriel, who has just finished his apprenticeship to a cleric and is leaving for one of Otaria's academies. He's not the most skilled of wizards yet, but he has shown great promise since the time he was a child. He was born on one of the coastal islands north of Otaria, and currently resides in the Daru plains with his master.

Nuriel, Mage Apprentice
1UU (Rare)
Legendary Creature - Human Wizard
UU, T: Return target creature to its owner’s hand.
Nuriel, Mage Apprentice does not untap during your untap step.
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may pay 2. If you do, untap Nuriel.
“My first, best, and truest friend. Without his guidance, we’d probably both be dead by now.”
— Lumaera, angel of light
2/2

Best friends with an angel? That seems rather out of place for a young blue mage. Nuriel's master, though, happened upon a stone charged with a huge amount of white mana, which granted him the power needed to create an angel. He made Lumaera to be Nuriel's guardian throughout his travels, but had no idea how crucial she would become.

Lumaera, Angel of Light
4WW (Rare)
Legendary Creature - Angel
Flying, double strike
When Lumaera, Angel of Light deals combat damage to a player for the first time in a turn, that player skips his or her next combat phase.
“I am bound by fate to fulfill my destiny. None shall stand in my way.”
3/4

The two set out for the city of Archaea, location of the academy, not sure of what the future holds for them.

For more story, go here: Awakening story thread

Theme: Land type matters
This block has several cards that care about how many of what kinds of lands you control. For example:

Giant Salamander
BBB (Uncommon)
Creature - Salamander
Giant Salamander gets -1/-1 for each non-Swamp land you control.
Its perpetually moist skin is specifically adapted to its marsh habitat.
6/6

The set has a lot of similarly aggressively-costed creatures in every color.
There's also a cycle of cards like this:

Resonating Truth
1U (Common)
Instant
Draw a card for each blue mana spent to cast Resonating Truth.

These cards are obviously at their peak when you're playing a monocolored deck, but flexible enough to still be playable otherwise.

Theme: Rapid Changes and Mirrored Effects
The mana radiating from the Mirari is causing all of Otaria to change. Some are strengthened, some gain new abilities, some are mutated beyond recognition. But all agree on one thing: no one can escape its influence.

Born from the Mirari are bizarre creatures such as this:

Wakeborn Spitfire
RR (Uncommon)
Creature - Elemental
Haste
If Wakeborn Spitfire would deal damage to a player, it instead deals that much damage to all players.
4/2

and this:

Ingenious Wakespawn
2U (Common)
Creature - Wizard Spirit
Put a -1/-1 counter on Ingenious Wakespawn: The next artifact spell you cast this turn costs 1 less to cast. Activate this ability no more than once each turn.
2/2

Theme: Counter Manipulation and Costs
This one's not really fleshed out yet, but looking at some cards across the block I realized there's a lot of design space for using counters on permanents as a cost.
There's the obvious interaction with the Song subtype below - removing counters as a cost will let them stay around longer. There are also a lot of creatures that generate +1/+1 or -1/-1 counters, so it wouldn't just affect Songs.
As far as I know, this is pretty unexplored design space, and I think there's lots of potential for it. If you have ideas, post them!

If you liked what you saw, keep checking this thread; I'll be doing more card reveals soon. I'm also putting up a storyline post in the RP subforum. And the set isn't complete yet, so if you want to be a part of the design team, let me know! Feel free to playtest the cards, but please let me know how it goes in case anything is broken or needs tweaking. Thanks for reading!

While the wilderness and battlefields of Otaria have been explored in the Odyssey and Onslaught blocks, this set will flesh out the cities and people of the remote continent.

The city of Archaea, located in the northern plain, is notable for two things: its prestigious academy and its coliseum. People from around the continent, and even from overseas, come to learn and compete. Because of this, much of the combat that takes place in the coliseum is magical in nature, though there are still a few combatants that rely on weapons or martial arts. The competitions here are not as brutal as other Otarian coliseums, but they are just as dangerous.

Coliseum of Archaea
Land (Rare)
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
1, T: Only one creature may attack this turn. Only one creature may block this turn. Activate this ability only before the declare attackers step.
Considerably more civilized than the arenas in Aphetto or the Cabal capital, this coliseum still finds itself full of bloodthirsty spectators.

Coliseum Champion
4WW (Rare)
Creature - Human Soldier
First strike
Whenever Coliseum Champion attacks, put two 1/1 white Soldier tokens onto the battlefield under your control.
4/4
Victory in the pit lightens the spirit, but makes the heart heavy.

Arcane Professor
4UU (Rare)
Creature - Bird Wizard
Flying
When Arcane Professor enters or leaves the battlefield, you may return target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard to your hand.
2/2
His teachings sparked the minds of a generation of young mages.

Necromancer Prodigy
4BB (Rare)
Creature - Human Wizard
At the end of your turn, if a Zombie you control dealt combat damage to an opponent, that player discards a card.
2/3
“It’s simple enough to get a zombie to rend flesh. It takes a bit more to get them to rend mind as well.”

Dragonfire Shaman
4RR (Rare)
Creature - Human Shaman
When Dragonfire Shaman dies, it does 3 damage to each creature.
5/5
“Pyromancy? You don’t know the half of it.”

Death's-Fang Druid
4GG (Rare)
Creature - Human Spider Mutant
Deathtouch
T, Sacrifice a Forest: Target creature gains deathtouch until end of turn.
3/3
Another twisted soul from the heart of Krosa, he seeks to quickly end others as tortured as he is.

gonna just post some out-of-the-way cards before the next story post:

White:

Angelic Acolyte
3W (Uncommon)
Creature - Human Cleric
Angel spells you cast cost 2 less to cast.
2/3
Faith is a power that rewards both the giver and the recipient.

Angelic Favor
1W (Common)
Instant
Target creature gets +2/+2 and gains flying until end of turn.
Draw a card.
The denizens of the heavens are firm believers in the idea of one good turn deserving another.

Aspect of the Ancestor
1W (Common)
Creature - Spirit
Defender
2/4

Aven Palliator
2WW (Common)
Creature - Bird Soldier
Flying
When Aven Palliator dies, you may have target player gain 3 life.
2/2
While not as awe-inspiring as the angels, the aven are no less benevolent.

Border Militia
5W (Uncommon)
Creature - Human Soldier
Vigilance
Border Militia gets +1/+1 for each Plains you control.
3/3

Blue:

Æther Disruption
UU (Uncommon)
Instant
Counter target spell. Its owner may pay its mana cost. If he or she does, return that spell to its owner’s hand. (Mana cost includes color.)

Arcanist Pupil
U (Common)
Creature - Human Wizard
Your maximum hand size is increased by one.
0/1
“The younger students always strive to learn more than they can, instead of learning what’s most useful.”
—Strygilas, academy professor

Cephalid Auramancer
1UU (Uncommon)
Creature - Cephalid Wizard
When Cephalid Auramancer enters the battlefield, return target creature or enchantment to its owner’s hand.
1/2

Commerce Manta
3UU (Common)
Creature - Beast Fish
Shroud
4/4
The mantas were crucial to those who wanted to communicate across an ocean with no one knowing.

Damping Rains
1U (Common)
Sorcery
Target player puts the top two cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard for each Island you control.


Black:

Abominable Amalgam
1B (Common)
Creature - Zombie Mutant
When Abominable Amalgam enters the battlefield, exile two target creature cards in graveyards. Abominable Amalgam gains all creature types of those cards.
2/2

Ambitious Wakespawn
2B (Common)
Creature - Wizard Spirit
Put a -1/-1 counter on Ambitious Wakespawn: The next spell you cast this turn costs 1 less to cast. Activate this ability no more than once each turn.
1/1

Darklit Angel
4B (Uncommon)
Creature - Angel
Flying
Sacrifice Darklit Angel: Target creature gets -4/-4 until end of turn.
3/3

Death's Acolyte
2B (Common)
Creature - Human Wizard
When Death’s Acolyte comes into play, target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
2/2

Eerie Elegy
1B (Common)
Enchantment - Song
Eerie Elegy is 2 verses long.
Creatures your opponents control get -1/-0.


Red:

Desperate Times
1R (Uncommon)
Enchantment
1: Target creature you control gets +3/+0 until end of turn. Sacrifice it at end of turn.
Those who knew Akara knew to hide when it was time for her to use “desperate measures.”

Firelit Angel
4R (Uncommon)
Creature - Angel
Flying, haste
5/3

Heretic
1R (Common)
Creature - Human Barbarian
Protection from Angels
2/1
Even when faced with absolute glory, there are still those unwilling to believe.

Rage's Acolyte
2R (Common)
Creature - Human Wizard
When Rage’s Acolyte enters the battlefield, it deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
2/2

Reckless Wakespawn
2R (Common)
Creature - Shaman Spirit
Put a -1/-1 counter on Reckless Wakespawn: The next instant or sorcery spell you cast this turn costs 1 less to cast. Activate this ability no more than once each turn.
2/2


Green:

Child of Resonance
2G (Common)
Creature - Beast
Child of Resonance enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter for each green mana spent to cast it.
2/2

Erratic Growth
1G (Uncommon)
Sorcery
Search your library for three land cards with different names and reveal them. Choose two at random. Put the chosen cards into your graveyard and the remaining card into the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
The power of the Mirari wildly stunted the development of Otaria, freely interchanging past, present, and possibility.

Growth's Acolyte
2G (Common)
Creature - Human Wizard
When Growth’s Acolyte enters the battlefield, target creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn.
2/2

Guardian of the Mirari
1GG (Common)
Creature - Centaur Druid Mutant
Sacrifice Guardian of the Mirari: Add two mana in any combination of colors to your mana pool.
2/3
Hand-selected by Kamahl himself, the guardians are those who can most adeptly channel the unstable power radiating from Krosa’s blighted heart.

Harmonious Echoes
1G (Common)
Enchantment - Song
Harmonious Echoes is 2 verses long.
At the beginning of your precombat main phase, add GG to your mana pool.


This group of cards shows off a bit of the Angel subtheme that's present in the set. I tried not to lean too heavily on it - there's a few legendary rare angels, a cycle of uncommons, and a few support cards.
There's also a little bit of the common cycles - the Songs, the Acolytes, and the Wakespawn - as well as a bit of the land-type-matters theme.

more coming soon!